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China’s Xiaomi has surpassed Apple for the first time to become the world’s third-largest smartphone maker by shipments in the July-September quarter, edging the US tech company out of the global top three for the first time in 10 years, three key market data providers said.
The world’s top three smartphone companies are now all from Asia, according to Canalys, IDC and Counterpoint Research. The latest statistics come as Apple on Thursday posted a 29 per cent year-on-year drop in revenue in the Chinese market for the three months to September.
Xiaomi had a 46 per cent jump in shipments from a year ago for the three months to September, shipping 46.2m handsets, Counterpoint said. Apple logged a 7 per cent drop in shipments year over year, selling 41.7m iPhones in the July-September quarter.
Canalys said Apple had a 1 per cent decline in shipments, while Xiaomi’s surged 45 per cent year over year for the same period. IDC said Apple’s shipments dropped more than 10 per cent while Xiaomi’s grew 42 per cent.


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b>TEL AVIV/b>: Chipmaker Intel Corp has agreed to acquire mobile navigation software maker Telmap, the chief executive of the Israel-based company said.
b>SAN FRANCISCO/b>: Facebook is influencing what news gets read online as people use the Internet's most popular hangout to share and recommend content.
b>KUALA LUMPUR/b>: Alcatel-Lucent has jumped onto the datacentre switching solution bandwagon with its 'future-proof' OmniSwitch 10K and OmniSwitch 6900 Modular Ethernet LAN Chassis.

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US imposes sanctions on Nvidia's chip sales in China
New export rules are intended to thwart China’s efforts to use AI computing chips for military purposes
US officials have barred Nvidia from exporting two AI-based computing chips to China, the company confirmed on Wednesday.
As an aftermath of the ban, the US chip designer’s shares fell 6.6% in extended trading. Specifically, the restriction affects Nvidia’s high-performance graphics processors sales of A100, including the development of the company’s flagship chip H100.
According to the US government, new licensing requirements for Nvidia exports to China “address the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a 'military end use' or 'military end user' in China."
The move directly impacts Nvidia’s $400 million pre-booked sales of the affected chips to China this quarter. The sanctions also extend to any future export to China, Hong Kong, and Russia.
Additionally, any forthcoming Nvidia integrated circuit that achieves peak performance and chip-to-chip I/O connectivity that is equal to or greater than those of the A100, as well as any system that incorporates such a circuit, is subject to the new license requirement.
“On August 26, 2022, the U.S. government, or USG, informed Nvidia that the USG has imposed a new license requirement, effective immediately, for any future export to China (including Hong Kong) and Russia of the Company’s A100 and forthcoming H100 integrated circuits,” a statement by Nvidia reads.
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As matters stand, the chipmaker is working toward fulfilling its Chinese customers’ planned or future purchases of Nvidia’s Data Center products.
“To the extent that a customer requires products covered by the new license requirement, the Company may seek a license for the customer but has no assurance that the USG will grant any exemptions or licenses for any customer, or that the USG will act on them in a timely manner,” Nvidia’s filing with the SEC reads.
The shares of AMD also dropped by 3.7% after receiving new license requirements that prevent the firm from exporting its MI250 artificial intelligence chips to China.
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The arrival on iPad offers a similar experience as on iPhone, the only real difference being the larger screen and support for iPad-only features, like multitasking with a split screen.
Google Assistant has been out for some time now on Android and was welcomed to the iPhone past year. That's why it's critical for apps like Google Assistant or Amazon's Alexa app to support all platforms, and not just their own hardware - like Android devices or Fire tablets.
Google Assistant is a free download from the App Store.
Chinese Food so Salty it Should Carry Warning Labels
Action on Salt has called for an urgent reduction in salt levels of popular takeaways and ready meals. Nearly all the restaurant dishes (97 percent) contained over 2 grams of salt.
For general questions, Google's app calls on Knowledge Graph rather than the combination of Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia used by Siri. However, that doesn't mean there aren't improvements to be found in the iPad version, as the iPad's bigger screen means that you'll be able to use the app in both landscape and portrait mode.
What do you guys think about Google Assistant coming to the iPad?
As you can see in the header image above, with iOS 11, iPad owners can multitask pretty well with an Assistant panel open alongside other apps. Google Assistant for iPad is launching today, and it's available in a handful of different languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish.


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High Caliber Karting & Entertainment in Okemos, Michigan, recently unveiled new inclusive go-karts for “thrill-seeking wheelchair users.” The company said that after a year of testing and fine tuning the equipment, the “Handicapable” attraction is ready to use, according to MLive.
The go-karts use a unique hand-operated steering wheel system, which removes the need to use regular brakes and gas pedals. After guests are seated into the specialized go-kart by a lifting sling, legs are strapped in for safety and then racers can take off at speeds of up to 55 MPH.
High Caliber’s owner Jordan Munsters was in a serious car accident that caused him to see disparities for go-kart racing inclusion in his company. After two major back surgeries and facing the possibility of never walking again, MLive reports that Munsters made a plan to make the races more accessible.
“We’re all about creating great memories and building fun moments for our community and guests at High Caliber Karting,” he said. “When I realized we were excluding the handicapable in Michigan, we began a plan to remedy it immediately.”
Learn more at www.highcaliberkarting.com.


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- The victims of the Africrypt scam have received the first payouts after the company was bought out
- Africrypt founders claim they were hacked and lost tens of thousands of investors’ bitcoin
- Little is known about the company that has agreed to buy the debt and resuscitate Africrypt
The victims of the Africrypt scam have received their first payouts after the white knight investor, recently revealed to be Pennython Project Management LLC, made good on promise to pay out investors to the tune of 65 cents on the rand. The prospect of an investor buying up what remained of the crypto investment platform was raised last month, and according to tech news website ITWeb the first payments have already come through, although little is known about the buyer.
Africrypt Story Still Untold
The Africrypt scam is still mired in mystery given that the Cajee brothers at the heart of the scandal are yet to testify and give their version of what happened to the fund that collapsed in June. The brothers were initially said to have absconded with some ₿69,000, today worth $3.3 billion, but they claim that the fund never even held that much money.
The brothers are still in hiding after fleeing their home in South Africa after they halted withdrawals and blamed a hack on the disappearance of funds, although they have agreed to attend court proceedings virtually.
Investor Could Bring Cajees Back on Board
When news came out that an investor wanted to buy up some of the tech and algorithms that the Cajees apparently traded with, at least in the early days, it came as a shock to some that there was anything to buy. The name of the ‘white knight’ investor wasn’t revealed, but having made the first tranche of payments ITWeb has revealed it as Pennython Project Management LLC.
Little is known about the company, which was behind this earlier attempted settlement offer that failed when it was revealed that one of the conditions of sale should be that criminal charges against Africrypt were dropped.
It is also unknown whether the Cajees are involved with Pennython, but Africrypt’s attorney Shaheed Dollie confirmed to ITWeb that “the Cajees certainly see an opportunity to resuscitate the business”.


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The global economy was under pressure during the pandemic. Value chains were disrupted and uncertainty dominated many sectors. Read how the dairy sector performed during this period and what will be important in 2022.
1. Price volatility intensifies with rising inflation:
The world milk price increased by 23% in 2021, and this increase was due to an imbalance between supply and demand. Dairy products have been promoted as a good source of protein and an important part of the diet to strengthen the immune system. As the number of COVID-19 infections increased, demand for dairy products in Asia and other parts of the world was boosted. Demand for imported dairy products has been particularly strong in the Chinese market, which also increases the future risk to milk prices if exporters focus on only a few trading partners and, towards the end of the pandemic, other countries will not be able to absorb the shortfall in demand. On the supply side, some of the major milk producers and net exporters experienced a tightening of the raw milk pool, driven by high farm input costs, weather-related constraints and increasing uncertainties about the future. Want to know more? Stay up-to-date with our real-time updates.
2. Fragile farm economics make dairy farmers think twice about every penny they invest:
Farmers are facing higher input costs, and the increase in national farm-gate milk prices is often not enough to offset this. The world feed price has already increased 38% in 2021 and will likely remain at this high level throughout most of 2022. The oil price is putting cost pressure on field operations and will continue to do so.
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Other factors include rising fertilizer prices and weather-related constraints (La Niña, etc.) that will limit the upcoming harvest. Crop production will be affected by changes in yields, forage quality, and farmers’ decisions to plant a particular crop. In addition, investment is hampered by the high prices of construction materials and their limited availability. Added to this are the long-term, structural profitability problems of recent years. According to IFCN, a typical farm analysis concluded that more than 40% of dairy farmers are already unable to cover their full costs.
3. Importance of dairy self-sufficiency and food security escalates:
The global supply chain disruption is likely to persist, creating uncertainty for both buyers and sellers. From the buyer’s perspective, there are concerns about long transportation times and product availability, which – assuming moderate prices – leads to stock building and increased import demand. In a market with high price elasticity, self-sufficiency will become even more important to ensure national food security. In addition, some governments are trying to regulate the national market by imposing import taxes and to focus on increasing self-sufficiency in dairy products.
4. Sustainability goals for dairy farming must be defined on the basis of the farming system:
Dairy farming is responsible for 2.2% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, dairy cows are part of the ecosystem and their nutritious products feed billions of people, so solutions for sustainable agriculture must be found and measured covering all sustainability dimensions of the farm: environmental, economic, and social. In addition,
solutions must be tailored to each farming system and country to meet all requirements to make dairy carbon neutral without sacrificing other sustainability goals. Read more about how IFCN measures the impact of mitigation strategies for lower dairy sector emissions.
5. The pandemic will continue to have an impact on the dairy industry and dairy workers:
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dairy industry adjusted and initially did not experience any major impact on milk price, supply and demand. As the pandemic continues in 2022, the issue of labour availability may affect work on dairy farms, as well as throughout the value chain. This will increase the importance of productivity and may accelerate the adoption of new technologies. Learn more about the digitization of the dairy sector by watching the recording of the 2021 IFCN Supporter Conference.
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What Are the Benefits of CBD?
More than 60 percent of CBD users were taking it for anxiety, according to a survey of 5,000 people. Does it help?
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By Dawn MacKeen
The CBD industry is flourishing, conservatively projected to hit $16 billion in the United States by 2025. Already, the plant extract is being added to cheeseburgers, toothpicks and breath sprays. More than 60 percent of CBD users have taken it for anxiety, according to a survey of 5,000 people, conducted by the Brightfield Group, a cannabis market research firm. Chronic pain, insomnia and depression follow behind. Kim Kardashian West, for example, turned to the product when “freaking out” over the birth of her fourth baby. The professional golfer Bubba Watson drifts off to sleep with it. And Martha Stewart’s French bulldog partakes, too.
What is CBD?
Cannabidiol, or CBD, is the lesser-known child of the cannabis sativa plant; its more famous sibling, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the active ingredient in pot that catapults users’ “high.” With roots in Central Asia, the plant is believed to have been first used medicinally — or for rituals — around 750 B.C., though there are other estimates too.
Cannabidiol and THC are just two of the plant’s more than 100 cannabinoids. THC is psychoactive, and CBD may or may not be, which is a matter of debate. THC can increase anxiety; it is not clear what effect CBD is having, if any, in reducing it. THC can lead to addiction and cravings; CBD is being studied to help those in recovery.
Cannabis containing 0.3 percent or less of THC is hemp. Although last year’s Farm Bill legalized hemp under federal law, it also preserved the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of products derived from cannabis.
What are the claims?
CBD is advertised as providing relief for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It is also marketed to promote sleep. Part of CBD’s popularity is that it purports to be “nonpsychoactive,” and that consumers can reap health benefits from the plant without the high (or the midnight pizza munchies).
Just as hemp seedlings are sprouting up across the United States, so is the marketing. From oils and nasal sprays to lollipops and suppositories, it seems no place is too sacred for CBD. “It’s the monster that has taken over the room,” Dr. Brad Ingram, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said about all the wild uses for CBD now. He is leading a clinical trial into administering CBD to children and teenagers with drug-resistant epilepsy.
Is This A Scam?
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Understand Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The invasive symptoms of PTSD can affect combat veterans and civilians alike. Early intervention is critical for managing the condition.
- Removing the Stigma: Misconceptions about how PTSD develops and its symptoms, can prevent people from seeking treatment.
- Psychedelic Drugs: As studies explore the therapeutic value of substances like MDMA, veterans are becoming unlikely advocates for their decriminalization.
- Virtual Reality: A treatment using new technology to immerse patients in a simulation of a memory could helpthemovercome trauma.
- Pandemic Trauma: Covid-19 has exacerbated mental health issues among medical workers, putting them at great risk of developing PTSD.
Does CBD work?
“It’s promising in a lot of different therapeutic avenues because it’s relatively safe,” said James MacKillop, co-director of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research in Hamilton, Ontario.
Last year, the F.D.A. approved Epidiolex, a purified CBD extract, to treat rare seizure disorders in patients 2 years or older after three randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trials with 516 patients that showed the drug, taken along with other medications, helped to reduce seizures. These types of studies are the gold standard in medicine, in which participants are divided by chance, and neither the subject nor the investigator knows which group is taking the placebo or the medication.
While there is hope for treating other conditions with the plant extract, Epidiolex remains the only CBD-derived drug approved by the F.D.A. Most of the research on cannabidiol has been in animals, and its current popularity has outpaced science. “We don’t have the 101 course on CBD quite figured out yet,” said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Does CBD help anxiety and PTSD?
For students with generalized social anxiety, a four-minute talk, with minimal time to prepare, can be debilitating. Yet a small experiment in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology found that CBD seemed to reduce nervousness and cognitive impairment in patients with social anxiety in a simulated public speaking task.
However, a double-blind study found healthy volunteers administered CBD had little to no change in their emotional reaction to unpleasant images or words, compared to the placebo group. “If it’s a calming drug, it should change their responses to the stimuli,” said Harriet de Wit, co-author of the study and a professor in the University of Chicago’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience. “But it didn’t.”
Many soldiers return home haunted by war and PTSD and often avoid certain activities, places or people associated with their traumatic events. The Department of Veterans Affairs is funding its first study on CBD, pairing it with psychotherapy.
“Our top therapies attempt to break the association between reminders of the trauma and the fear response,” said Mallory Loflin, an assistant adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego and the study’s principal investigator. “We think that CBD, at least in animal models, can help that process happen a lot faster.” While large clinical trials are underway, psychologists say there isn’t compelling evidence yet as to whether this is a viable treatment.
Does CBD help sleep and depression?
Up in the wee hours of the night, stuck watching videos of puppies? CBD may be promising as a sleep aid; one of the side effects of the Epidiolex trials for epilepsy was drowsiness, according to Mr. MacKillop, a co-author of a review on cannabinoids and sleep. “If you are looking for new treatments for sleep, that may be a clue,” he said.
But he cautions that the side effects could have been because of an interaction with other medications the children were taking to control the seizures. So far, there hasn’t been a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial (the gold standard) on sleep disorders and CBD.
A recent chart review of 72 psychiatric patients treated with CBD found that anxiety improved, but not sleep. “Over all, we did not find that it panned out as a useful treatment for sleep,” said Dr. Scott Shannon, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado, Denver and the lead author of the review in The Permanente Journal.
Sleep can be disrupted for many reasons, including depression. Rodents seemed to adapt better to stressful conditions and exhibited less depressive-like behavior after taking CBD, according to a review in Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy. “Surprisingly, CBD seems to act faster than conventional antidepressants,” wrote one of the authors of a new review, Sâmia Joca, a fellow at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies in Denmark and an associate professor at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, in an email interview. Of course, it’s difficult to detect depression in animals, but the studies that Ms. Joca and her colleagues reviewed suggested that in models of chronic stress exposure, the mice and rats treated with CBD were more resilient.
But without clinical trials in humans, psychologists say CBD’s effect on depression is still a hypothesis, and not an evidence-based treatment.
Is CBD harmful?
“If you take pure CBD, it’s pretty safe,” said Marcel Bonn-Miller, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Side effects in the Epidiolex trial included diarrhea, sleepiness, fatigue, weakness, rash, decreased appetite and elevated liver enzymes. Also, the safe amount to consume in a day, or at all during pregnancy, is still not known.
Recently, the F.D.A. sent a warning letter to Curaleaf Inc. about its “unsubstantiated claims” that the plant extract treats a variety of conditions from pet anxiety and depression to cancer and opioid withdrawal. (In a statement, the company said that some of the products in question had been discontinued and that it was working with the F.D.A.)
Dr. Smita Das, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry’s cannabis work group, does not recommend CBD for anxiety, PTSD, sleep or depression. With patients turning to these to unproven products, she is worried that they may delay seeking appropriate mental health care: “I’m dually concerned with how exposure to CBD products can lead somebody into continuing to cannabis products.”
Some CBD products may contain unwanted surprises. Forensic toxicologists at Virginia Commonwealth University examined nine e-liquids advertised as being 100 percent natural CBD extracts. They found one with dextromethorphan, or DXM, used in over-the counter cough medications and considered addictive when abused; and four with a synthetic cannabinoid, sometimes called Spice, that can cause anxiety, psychosis, tachycardia and death, according to a study last year in Forensic Science International.
Earlier research found fewer than a third of 84 products studied contained the amount of CBD on their labels. Some users of CBD have also failed drug tests when the product contained more THC than indicated.
This year, 1,090 people have contacted poison control centers about CBD, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Over a third are estimated to have received medical attention, and 46 were admitted into a critical care unit, possibly because of exposure to other products, or drug interactions. In addition, concern over 318 animals poured into the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Animal Poison Control Center.
Is CBD a scam or not?
A few drops of CBD oil in a mocha or smoothie are not likely to do anything, researchers contend. Doctors say another force may also be at play in people feeling good: the placebo effect. That’s when someone believes a drug is working and symptoms seem to improve.
“CBD is not a scam,” said Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai in New York City who led a double-blind study of 42 recovering heroin addicts and found that CBD reduced both cravings and cue-based anxiety, both of which can cycle people back into using. “It has a potential medicinal value, but when we are putting it into mascara and putting it into tampons, for God’s sake, to me, that’s a scam.”
Health Benefits of CBD
CBD is an abbreviation for cannabinoid. Cannabinoid is a natural substance found in cannabis, also known as marijuana, and also in hemp plants. Today, you can find CBD oil in capsules, oil bases for vaporizers, tinctures, food items, and beauty products such as bath bombs or lotions.
Unlike its cousin THC, CBD is not intoxicating or psychoactive. Proponents of CBD oil and other CBD products claim that it can be used to treat conditions such as chronic pain, inflammation, migraines, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases, depression, and anxiety.
Research into some of these claims is ongoing, and there is still a lot about CBD that we don’t know but researchers are trying to find out.
Researchers are looking for answers when it comes to the full potential of CBD. What have they discovered in the meantime? So far, we know that CBD is a proven treatment when it comes to certain types of epilepsy, and early research is showing promise in regards to various anxiety disorders.
Approved to Treat Epilepsy
In 2018, the first FDA-approved drug, cannabidiol (Epidiolex), containing CBD was released on the market to treat two different kinds of epilepsy — Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
The FDA approved the treatment for patients as young as two years old. Studies showed it was effective in comparison to a placebo in reducing the frequency of seizures.
Though we need more research, a 2015 medical journal review article looked at CBD and its effect on multiple anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, seasonal affective disorder, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The results showed that there was “strong preclinical evidence” to support the treatment of anxiety disorders with CBD, though more research is needed on long-term dosing.
Research surrounding CBD is ongoing, and there are many questions that researchers do not have the answers to yet, such as whether or not the means of taking CBD impacts the risks or efficacy. Some common means of taking CBD include inhaling through a vaporizer, ingesting through food, or taking orally as a pill.
Here is a list of a few potential risks and side effects that come with CBD. Some of these risks are controllable if taking CBD under the guidance of your doctor.
During drug trials for Epidiolex, the FDA determined liver injury to be a side effect of CBD. Signs of liver injury showed up on blood work used to detect early problems with the liver. You can manage this risk by only taking CBD under the supervision of your doctor.
Interaction with Other Medications
If you are taking other medications, CBD can impact their efficacy, and the dose you are taking may need to be re-evaluated by your doctor. CBD can potentially interact with other medications to cause side effects.
Because there is limited research on how CBD interacts with prescription drugs and with standard over-the-counter supplements, it is best to talk to your doctor before taking CBD if you are taking other medications.
Though not much research has looked specifically at CBD, it seems that there is a negative relationship between cannabis use and sperm count, as well as other measures of male fertility, including sperm viability and motility.
Most of these studies have focused on animal participants, and further research is needed. Experts recommend awareness around these potential side effects when prescribing cannabis to patients who are of reproductive age.
Amounts and Dosage
Because the FDA currently does not regulate CBD, there are no specific recommended doses. Doses in most clinical trials have ranged from 100 to 800 milligrams a day.
Before using any CBD product, you should speak to your doctor to come up with a safe dosage plan that works for you. This plan should also take into account your symptoms and any other medications or supplements that you may be taking.
Neurotherapeutics: “Cannabidiol as a Potential Treatment for Anxiety Disorders.”
The Journal of Urology: “Cannabis and Male Fertility: A Systematic Review.“
U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “FDA Approves First Drug Comprised of an Active Ingredient Derived from Marijuana to Treat Rare, Severe Forms of Epilepsy.”
U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “What You Need to Know (And What We’re Working to Find Out) About Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-derived Compounds, Including CBD.”


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Vera, a leader in data-centric security, has announced its partnership and product integrations with Autodesk and PTC’s design, engineering and PLM softwares.
The company offers embedded, ‘always-on security’ that travels with the data, protecting CAD files and data in PLM systems with persistent security and control.
Both Autodesk and PTC users will be able to control how and what recipients can do with CAD files, regardless of where designs ultimately move, while files can be encrypted with controlled access to confidential CAD drawings from creation to production, even after being taken to untrusted networks or devices.
One of the key features for the partnerships is likely to be that Vera automatically secures CAD files as they’re uploaded or removed from a PLM system, ensuring security controls follow CAD files anywhere and always – without impacting the design and engineering workflow.
Although manufacturers account for 12 per cent of the total US GDP and 80 per cent of privately held patents, companies today still lack effective tools to control designs once shared with contractors, third parties, or foreign suppliers.
“CAD and PLM solutions are the beating heart of innovation for thousands of companies and define billions of dollars in products and IP every year,” said Vera CEO and co-founder Ajay Arora. “Because of this, these designs are a rich target for IP theft that can result in untold millions of lost dollars.
“That stops today. While Autodesk and PTC are known for their excellent security, the problem has always been a complete lack of control once designs leave these systems or are shared with external partners. Now, Autodesk and PTC users worldwide can maintain total control over their designs and trade secrets throughout the supply chain.”
Vera already provides online security for the likes of Cisco and Capital One, while it provides security add-ons for online storage such as Box, Dropbox and mail clients.


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Save this date! March 24, 2021, 10 AM CET – that’s when, for the very first time, we will be holding a STATSCORE DAY, a special event dedicated to the unique company on our way to becoming the biggest sports data center in the world. Join us to learn about all the major developments, and […]
Have you booked your seat for SPiCE 2020 yet? We sure hope so as this esteemed event, known to be the largest gathering of gaming and sports betting professionals in the Indian subcontinent, is taking place in only TWO months! Join us from 25 to 27 March at the Goa Marriot Resort & Spa for […]
Only one month to go before AI In Gaming 2020 and ILPS (International Lottery Play Summit) 2020 in Dubai. With only one month to go before the kick-off of the first ever AI In Gaming and ILPS 2020 summits in Dubai, the Eventus International team is excited to announce the 2-for-1 Special Offer for these […]
The new year is here and the Eventus International team would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a happy and prosperous 2020! We are super excited to kick off 2020 in true “Eventus fashion”, with a lineup of brand new events!
Alexander Stevendahl (CEO, Videoslots), Jeremy Taylor (managing director, Genting Online) and Ewa Kazmierska (COO, LV BET) are among the 100 experts set to offer their insights on the future of the industry at CasinoBeats Malta 2020.
Betting on Sports 2019 is a must-attend conference and exhibition for members of the sports, betting and gaming industries. Over 300 key industry speakers, 120 exhibitors and 3,500 industry delegates in attendances from around the world at this year’s London trade fair. As part of the media partnership, E-PLAY provides readers with a special discount […]
Totalizator Sportowy launched a tender for the selection of agencies that will deal with the organization and service of the image-sales events. TS plans to employ a maximum of six companies, and will work with them for a year.
The online edition about the gambling business, Login Casino, organizes a contest whose winner will be presented with two free VIP tickets for one of the brightest and the most important conferences and exhibitions dedicated to iGaming – Russian Gaming Week.
Support for the inaugural ICE Africa, which is being held across October 24 to 25 at Johannesburg’s Sandton Convention Centre, continues to gather momentum with leading distributor umAfrika the latest blue chip commercial organisation to join the list of notable exhibitors.


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liberian girls and boys – have better vintage t-shirts than you
January 5, 2011
VBS.TV recently visited Monrovia, Liberia, where we made a film with three warlords called General Bin Laden, General Rambo and General Butt Naked. During our week there we filmed in the slums, on top of burned-out banks that have become squats, in graveyards that ex-child soldiers use to sleep in at night and, ill-advisedly, at midnight in the gnarliest brothel in the worst slum in the city. We noticed how everybody there looked like they’d been getting their clothes from vintage stores on eBay.
Liberian girls and boys – have better vintage t-shirts than you
PHOTOS AND WORDS BY
MYLES ESTEY & ANDY CAPPER for Viceland.com
“How weird,” I said. “We’re in a country where only one-fifth of people have electricity or running water and there’s a kid with a vintage Exploited shirt that somebody in LA currently lists for £200 on eBay so a stylist can put an MTV emo-rock band in it for an awards ceremony.”
Just as those words left my lips, our fixer there, a Canadian journalist called Myles Estey, interrupted me with a sigh, and explained where all these shirts are coming from. What you are about to read is that explanation in written-down form.
Clothing exemplifies this inverted chain. Liberia’s struggling economy does not have enough buying power to dictate what comes into one of the most import-dependent countries in the world. Its war-destroyed infrastructure means there’s very little domestic production of anything.
Some new clothes do make it into the country. But outside the cheap Chinese kitsch sold in the potholed and rubbish-strewn Waterside Market, most new clothing is far outside the affordability of the average Liberian; as many as 60 percent of the country are said to live on a dollar a day.
So, demand creates a different supply chain where low cost is the trump. Donations from the US and the wholesale purchase of massive amounts of used clothes fill hundreds of sea cans with clothing no longer wanted by Americans. These end up all over Africa, but Monrovia—the capital city of a country built by freed slaves of the 19th century in the image of the United States—receives a high proportion of used American garb.
It’s these packed sea cans that set the parameters of style. Trends get set by what shows up in the shipping containers, not the other way around. For example, around Christmas last year, a multi-colour striped t-shirt made of cheap cloth could be found for about 80 cents anywhere in the country. It’s near impossible to pass a day without seeing the “Be the Reds” shirt, produced by the millions to promote South Korea’s football team as they hosted the 2002 World Cup. And sometime in the spring, a wave of cheap top hats showed up on the street, starting a trend for young men on the streets of the capital.
But these identifiable shipments are dwarfed by the mixed assortments of used digs that decorate pedestrians along the streets. The variation and contrasts can be truly spectacular.
Boiled-peanut sellers in “Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore” shirts. Ex-child soldiers with rippling muscles sporting white “Tickle me Elmo” shirts or black t-shirts adorned with a giant pink Barbie doll. Shockingly beautiful women in baggy shirts with a stupid logo aimed at lame American male middle-agers: “It’s Not a Bald Patch… It’s a Solar Panel for Love”. Old women in yellow shirts bearing the classic DIY stencilling “Rock Out With Your Cock Out”.
No trace of irony can be found. In fact, what the t-shirt actually says is generally ignored by the buyer in favour of size, colour, shirt quality, and personal perception of the design.
Rusty wheelbarrows stuffed with shirts serve as the shopping centres for these items. These sellers can be found pacing the city’s streets, or they line the shirts in rows in busy areas, markets and roadsides, selling them for around two bucks each, often with a small crowd hovered around, finding the right mix of ingredients to bargain for a purchase. The US$2 price tag is a large investment for many Liberians.
Shirts live hard lives here. Most people have small wardrobes and so the shirts are worn repeatedly under the sweat, sun and humidity of equatorial Africa. Liberian kids are the last stop on this international hand-me-down chain. They wear shirts outgrown by older siblings, cousins and neighbours, often until ripped and dirty beyond recognition.
Even so, no one bitches that their shirt is not the newest, not the coolest, not the right colour, and certainly that it’s not the right brand name—although these were most likely the reasons the shirts were given up in the first place. In Liberia, few kids have any clue of the disparity of privilege between themselves and those who tossed the shirt into a donation bin a million miles away.
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When it comes to investing in a car with the best safety features, few people are as selective as parents. As such, some automobiles are trying to make themselves more attractive to adults and include features that would improve any driving experience.
According to The New York Times, new features to some vehicles, such as the built-in vacuum cleaner in the new Honda Odyssey Touring Elite, are set to make driving and vehicle maintenance easier on parents. There is always room for improvement, however, and some have their eyes set on further improving the tools that cars have.
The news source reports that automakers may want to consider adding things like built-in car seats, usable reading lights and streamlined interiors that don't have crevices where children's toys can get easily lost.
While some of these features may be in the future, there are a few others that may soon be making an appearance in automobiles. WSOC News reports that AAA is currently testing a new device that would track teen drivers, allowing parents to know where they are and how fast they're going at all times. Including the device in a car could help decrease the number of crashes young people are involved in, especially those that occur at high speeds or when texting behind the wheel.


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The Shanghai Free Trade Area’s IP reform experiments could benefit the whole of China
Shanghai’s Free Trade Area has hit the headlines with reports that internet sites Facebook, Twitter and the New York Times, which are banned in China, would be accessible within the special economic zone. Although these claims may not be correct,…
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February 20, 2013
A statement from Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of HSI/Canada, in response to positions of the Canadian and Norwegian delegations at the World Trade Organization regarding a derogation for products of traditional Inuit seal hunts in the European Union commercial seal product trade ban.
February 19, 2013
HSI commends authorities in Prince Edward Island for the arrests of three suspects in a recent case involving the deaths of more than 50 grey seals on Murray Beach.
February 18, 2013
HSI is deeply disappointed by the biased and misleading information included in the Canadian government presentation at the first World Trade Organization hearing on the dispute regarding the European Union prohibition on products of commercial seal hunts.
February 15, 2013
HSI supports the EU ban on trade in seal products and filed an amicus brief with the WTO in its defense of the ban.
February 11, 2013
Canadian pet store chain PJ's Pets and Pets Unlimited signed the Puppy-Friendly Pet Store Pledge vowing to never sell puppies in the future.
February 5, 2013
Humane Society International/Canada Increases Reward to $5,000 for Information Leading to the Conviction of the Persons Responsible for Seal Killings on Prince Edward Island
HSI/Canada has increased its reward to $5,000 for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the deaths of more than 50 grey seals in PEI.
February 1, 2013
Humane Society International/Canada Offers $1000 Reward for Information Leading to the Conviction of the Persons Responsible for Brutal Seal Killings on Prince Edward Island
HSI/Canada is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the people responsible for the deaths of more than 50 grey seals in PEI.
January 29, 2013
An Environics poll commissioned by HSI and the IFAW showed that the vast majority of Canadians support the proposal to prohibit the international commercial trade of polar bear parts.
January 28, 2013
At HSI/Canada, our top priority for sharks in 2013 is to ensure that Member of Parliament Fin Donnelly’s Private Member’s Bill (C-380) to ban the import of shark fins into Canada is passed into law.
January 17, 2013
HSI Applauds Recommendation to the European Court of Justice to Uphold EU Ban on Trade in Products of Commercial Seal Hunts
HSI/Canada commends an opinion by Advocate General Kokott that the European Court of Justice should reject an appeal by commercial sealing interests and some Inuit representatives.


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Tesco charity Christmas cards withdrawn from sale amid claims they were packed in Chinese gulag
A range of Tesco charity Christmas cards allegedly made by prisoners in China under duress has been withdrawn from sale.
The three charities set to benefit from the card sales, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK, said yesterday (SUNDAY), they were “shocked” by the revelations as Tesco vowed to investigate.
The discovery was made by a six-year-old girl, whose father had bought the box of supermarket cards for her to send to her friends.
Florence Widdicombe, from Tooting, south London, was busily writing the cards last week when she discovered a note inside one of them written from a Chinese gulag.
The cry for help, scrawled inside a card featuring a kitten in a Santa hat in capital letters, said: “We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China.
“Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation.”
It went on to urge the recipient to contact Peter Humphrey, a British former journalist who had spent two years at the prison before being released in 2015.
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Florence, said yesterday: “It was a bit funny and I felt a bit shocked” on discovering the message.
She added: “We were writing in them. About on my sixth or eighth card, somebody had already written in it.”
Her father, Ben Widdicombe, said he felt “incredulity” and thought it was a “prank” when he read the message.
He explained: “On reflection we realised it was actually potentially quite a serious thing, so I felt very shocked but also a responsibility to pass it on to Peter Humphrey as the author asked me to do.”
Mr Widdicombe, a civil servant specialising in criminal justice, found Mr Humphrey online and sent him a message about the “strange occurrence” via LinkedIn.
The journalist yesterday described how he felt on receiving the “startling message” which resulted in Tesco suspending the factory’s print production and launching a full investigation.
“I was suddenly plunged back to a painful two-year period of my life when I was working in Shanghai as a corporate fraud investigator,” he wrote in the Sunday Times.
“My activities upset the Chinese government, which jailed both me and my American wife, Yu Yingzeng, on bogus charges that were never heard in court.
“I do not know the identities or nationalities of the prisoners who sneaked this note into the Tesco cards, but I have no doubt they are Qingpu prisoners who knew me before my release in June 2015 from the suburban prison where I spent nine of my 23 months.”
One former prisoner said inmates had been packing Christmas cards and gift tags for Tesco, “for at least two years.”
The supermarket’s charity cards, sold for £1.50 per box of 20 or three boxes for £3, will this year each earn £300,000 for the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK.
But the revelation exposes the risks connected with using Chinese suppliers who hide behind an obscure supply chain that can involve forced labour.
In a statement released yesterday, Tesco said: “We abhor the use of prison labour and would never allow it in our supply chain.
“We were shocked by these allegations and immediately suspended the factory where these cards are produced and launched an investigation. We have also withdrawn these cards from sale whilst we investigate.”
It added: “We have a comprehensive auditing system in place and this supplier was independently audited as recently as last month and no evidence was found to suggest they had broken our rule banning the use of prison labour. If a supplier breaches these rules, we will immediately and permanently de-list them.”
British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK said in a joint statement:
“Like Tesco, we’re shocked by these allegations.
“We are in touch with Tesco, who have assured us that these particular cards have been removed from sale, and that the factory producing them has been suspended while they investigate further. We await the outcome of Tesco’s full investigation.”
In 2017, Jessica Rigby from Braintree, Essex, found a handwritten note in a box of Sainsbury’s Christmas cards, reading: “Wishing you luck and happiness. Third Product Shop, Guangzhou Prison, No 6 District.” The chain was said at the time to be investigating.
In 2014, Karen Wisinska from Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, found a note on a pair of Primark trousers reading: “Our job inside the prison is to produce fashion clothes for export.
“We work 15 hours per day and the food we eat wouldn’t even be given to dogs or pigs.”
The author claimed to be incarcerated in the Xiang Nan prison in Hubei province.
Primark said that nine inspections of the supplier had been carried out since 2009 and that no prison or other forced labour of any kind was found during those inspections.


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Obama announce billions of dollars in private investments in Africa Summit in Washington
arack Obama has told the leaders of more than 50 African nations that they have control of their countries’ financial futures. Obama also announced billions of dollars in private
investments in Africa.
Leaders push partnership Addressing 50-plus African leaders in Washington on Tuesday, Obama said US companies were at the ready to invest.
“It is the youngest and fastest-growing continent, with young people that are full of dreams and ambition,” Obama said in his speech, making reference to the “desire of Africans not just for aid but for trade,” and announcing new resources for entrepreneurs. “We don’t look to Africa simply for its natural resources,” Obama added. “We look to Africa for its people and its talents and its potential.”
Earlier in the day, officials said Obama would announce $14 billion (10.5 billion euros) in private investments in Africa by companies spanning industries from construction to energy and banking to information technology. By Tuesday afternoon, that number had reached $17 billion and appeared to be growing. Questions of sustainable growth were also said to be on the agenda.
The US-Africa Leaders Summit, which opened on Monday, was established with an aim to boost trade opportunities and forge stronger economic ties between Africa and the United States, with some 90 US corporations on hand to grab a stake in the continent – or increase their existing claims. Obama helped facilitate the negotiations between private companies and national governments.
Speaking to delegates at the opening of the three-day event on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Africa could be “the marketplace of the future.” He said the continent was currently facing an “amazing opportunity.”
The International Monetary Fund predicts that Africa will see economic expansion of 5.8 percent in 2014. It’s also home to an expanding middle class and six of the world’s 10 fastest- growing economies.
In 2009, China surpassed the US as Africa’s biggest trading partner and the United States is hoping to do some catching up. Though the United States remains the largest source of investment in Africa, those funds have largely gone into the petroleum sector.
“We gave it to the Europeans first and to the Chinese later, but today it’s wide open for us,” said General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, who on Monday had announced a $2 billion investment in infrastructure and worker skills – just one of the latest ways in which private US companies have tried to cash in on Africa.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Doug McMillon said the retailer, often under fire for its labor pactices at home in the United States, had faith that regional governments would work to ensure a secure business environment and the rule of law. McMillon called Wal-Mart’s $2.6 billion investment in Africa in 2011, when it bought a majority stake in the South Africa- based retailer Massmart, “just the beginning.”
The private investment in industry comes as Africa, faced with a spreading Ebola epidemic, urgently needs money for health care and public infrastructure.


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On Monday, Browning received a call from his bank's anti-fraud unit saying that there were two attempts to use his credit card in California — one at a casino in Tracey, Calif., for $8,000 and the other at a casino in Pacheco, for $3,000. Both occurred on Sunday and both were denied. He canceled his credit card and plans to use cash.
"I won't shop at Target again until the people behind this theft are caught or the reasons for the breach are identified and fixed," he said.
Brianna Byrnes, of Kansas City, Mo., a student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a call center worker, said she made a Target purchase during the affected period. The situation made her "a little bit" nervous, but she still planned to shop for toys at the store.
"I've never had anyone steal my identity. I guess it's taking a risk."
Target's stock dropped more than 2 percent, or $1.40, to $62.15 on Thursday.
The incident is particularly troublesome for Target because it has used its store-branded credit and debit cards as a marketing tool to attract shoppers with a 5 percent discount.
During an earnings call in November, the company said some 20 percent of store customers as of October have the Target-branded cards. In fact, households that activate a Target-branded card have increased their spending at the store by about 50 percent on average, the company said.
"This is how Target is getting more customers in the stores," said Brian Sozzi, CEO and Chief Equities Strategist. "It's telling people to use the card. It's been a big win. If they lose that trust, that person goes to Wal-Mart."
TJX Cos., which runs stores such as T.J. Maxx and Marshall's, had a breach that began in July 2005 and exposed at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards to possible fraud. The breach was not detected until December 2006.
Without anyone noticing, one or more intruders installed code on the discount retailer's systems to methodically collect and transmit account data from millions of cards.
In 2009, TJX agreed to pay $9.75 million in a settlement with multiple states.
In 2011, an even larger hack hit Sony, which had to rebuild trust among PlayStation Network gamers after hackers compromised personal information, including credit card data, on more than 100 million user accounts.
Litan doubts the breach will have much effect on Target's sales, noting that TJX launched sales promotions immediately following the news of its breach. The promotions increased sales.
"People care more about discounts than security," Litan said.
Associated Press writers Michelle Chapman in New York and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.


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CEO/ Director of Operations | Fashion Week Las Vegas, LLC.
Fashion Week Las Vegas
For Immediate Release Fashion Week Las Vegas enters it's third season August 2013. The official dates for FWLV are August 17-23, 2013. Organizers have announced the seven night runway programming ...
Fashion Week Las Vegas 2013 Competitions
For Immediate Release November 30, 2012 Las Vegas, Nevada - Fashion Week Las Vegas (FWLV) is preparing for the Big Event in February 2013- fashion week producers are creating several competitions...
Rory Castillo Red Carpet Couture Designer at Fashion Week Las Vegas 2013
Rory Castillo’s fascination with fashion design and his love for the silver screen began at an early age. His father named him after the legendary Hollywood leading man, Rory Calhoun. Many of ...
Fashion Week Las Vegas (FWLV) International Emerging Designer Competition Results
“International Designers set the tone for the February 2013 Fashion Week Las Vegas” The International Emerging Designer Competition, this past Saturday August 18, 2012 was a hit! ...
Native of Peru ,South America Milka traveled at a young age moving to Canada and then traveling to Upstate NY where she grew up and built her international eye for Fashion, a resident of Las Vegas , she is Publisher of an entertainment magazine about Las Vegas. 'Risque Las Vegas Magazine', created from a vision of what tourists are looking to read, and see about Vegas and to find the newests hotspots and clubs, the publication was just the beginning to create a platform to bring attention to Las Vegas. Currently in full production of a Fashion Week twice a year, Milka and her team has been working on FWLV for Las Vegas to have for the first time a pressence in the fashion world and be recognized as another location where Las Vegas will provide designers with a platform to showcase their collections to thousands of industry insider's from around the world, including buyers,retailers,celebrities,VIP's and members of the regional, national and international press.


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Retail trade in the European Union rose by 5.7 percent in June compared with the previous month, Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office said in a report published on August 5.
“In June 2020, a month marked by some relaxation of COVID-19 containment measures in many member states, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade increased by 5.7 percent in the euro area and by 5.2 percent in the EU, compared with May 2020,” Eurostat said. “In May 2020, the retail trade volume increased by 20.3 percent in the euro area and by 18.3 percent in the EU. This means that retail trade volumes in both zones have returned to the levels recorded in February 2020, before the start of containment measures.”
The highest yearly increases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Ireland (+10.2 percent), Estonia (+6.6) and Denmark (+6.5). The largest decreases were observed in Bulgaria (-18.1), Malta (-8.4) and Luxembourg (-7.7). In the EU overall, the rise was mainly driven by a 16.9 percent increase in automotive fuels, a 20.4 percent jump in clothing and footwear and a 12.1 percent increase in all non-food categories.
Among the Central European countries, the month-on-month rise in June was 3.3 percent in Poland, 3.7 percent in Hungary and 9.3 percent in Slovakia. The Czech Republic did not submit June data, but in the previous month retail sales there rose by 11.5 percent.
In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, retail volume was down 1.6 percent month-on-month in June after a 12.7 percent rise in May.
Title image: Women do their shopping at a jewelry shop in the Glyfada suburb, near Athens, on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. Greek authorities introduced tougher restrictions this week following an increase in coronavirus infections, most unrelated to tourism. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)


text: Naver has launched a new web browser to challenge Google Chrome. The browser, called Naver Whale, has translation and mapping features, which it hopes will help it to increase its market share in South Korea. The company has said that Whale has been designed to “do all your work in a single window”, whilst also pointing out that the browser was designed using user feedback. A beta version was launched on the 1st of December, although it is currently only available as a trial service for 15,000 pre-registered users. Whilst in the past Naver has comfortably been top of the search market in South Korea, the introduction of Chrome and Android has put pressure on the company to respond. Naver hopes that Whale can help increase its share of the market, and has said that the full version is likely to be available to the public before March 2017.


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Hogwarts Legacy has grossed over $1.3 billion
Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action role-playing game, masterfully crafted by Avalanche Software and published under the auspices of Warner Bros. Games. This game, embodying the setting of the renowned “Harry Potter” series, graced the PC and console platforms on the 10th of February, 2023. The PC rendition of Hogwarts Legacy boasts features such as ray-tracing shadows, reflections, ambient occlusion, and the state-of-the-art DLSS 3 technology from Nvidia.
According to a report by Seeking Alpha, David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, revealed during an investor teleconference that Hogwarts Legacy has raked in over 1.3 billion US dollars in revenue.
Zaslav opined, “We don’t want to put a movie out or a game out unless we think it’s our best work. Even if we do that, half the time or 2/3 of the time, it’s not going to work. But that’s the new cultural philosophy of the company. We’re a storytelling company. The best creatives fight to make our content the best it could be.”
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery professed that the retail revenue for Hogwarts Legacy has exceeded one billion US dollars, not inclusive of digital versions, which purportedly account for about half of the total sales. The aforementioned figure of 1.3 billion US dollars likely does not include the subsequently launched PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, but rather pertains to the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S versions released in February of this year. To date, the cumulative sales of Hogwarts Legacy have surpassed 15 million units.
In a recent turn of events, the Nintendo Switch version of Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed, pushing back the release date from July 25th of this year to November 14th.


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Spa Ceylon, a luxury lifestyle brand with a Ceylonese identity, is set to take the international market by storm as they expand their product and service offering to seven countries this year, with over 16 outlets planned to be opened in the next 12 months. The international expansion will cover Russia, Turkey, UAE (Dubai), India, South Africa, Japan and the Maldives in 2013, while operations in Singapore and Malaysia will commence in early 2014.
The Company has plans to launch over 20 outlets before the end of the year, operating single brand retail outlets under their own brand name. Locally, Spa Ceylon will be expanding to five more locations from its current 14 outlets by December 2013. The five new spas and boutiques will be located in key tourist hubs. The launch of this luxury brand into the international market will cover not only distribution but shop in shop business. With this foray into the international market, Spa Ceylon is poised to stand head-to-head with other renowned global brands.
Founded in May 2009 by brothers Shiwantha Dias and Shalin Balasuriya, the Company has seen an increase in profits year on year since its launch and a vast increase in sales per square foot. The Company expects a further growth of 500 percent in the next year.


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The global personalized retail nutrition and wellness market size is projected to receive a major booster shot in the upcoming years as a result of the emergence of personalized nutrition startups, states Fortune Business Insights™ in its report, titled “Personalized Retail Nutrition and Wellness Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Product Type (Dietary Supplements, Functional Foods/Fortified Foods, Functional Beverages) and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027”. The growing demand for personalized health and nutrition solutions has led to an increasing presence of startups specializing in this niche domain. For example, Gini, a Canadian startup, develops a personalized health-tracker to set nutrition and exercise goals based on an individual’s DNA. The data gathered by the tracker enables Gini to function as a guide to provide DNA-specific nutrition regimes. Another unique example is GUTXY, a Danish startup that offers services involving the analysis of micro-biomes to optimize their clients’ dietary and lifestyle choices. Innovations in personalized retail nutrition and wellness created by these and several other startups have considerably augmented the potential of this market.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought economic activities across the world to a standstill. Businesses are undergoing severe downturn, with financial losses skyrocketing. We, at Fortune Business Insights™, aim to provide businesses with a comprehensive impact analysis of the current pandemic on different markets, based on our expertise and experience in market intelligence.
Highlights of the Report:
- Piecemeal analysis of all segments of the market;
- In-depth examination of all factors driving and restraining the market;
- Careful profiling and evaluation of the top market players and their strategies; and
- Tangible insights into the regional developments influencing the market growth.
Rising Incidence of Chronic Diseases Worldwide to Create Novel Opportunities
One of the chief factors fueling the personalized retail nutrition and wellness market growth is the increasing incidence of chronic diseases around the world. For example, obesity is a major chronic condition that has emerged as the leading cause for diabetes and high cholesterol. As per the data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2016, approximately 1.9 billion adults were overweight and of these, more than 650 million were obese. Another health-deteriorating chronic condition is cardiovascular disease, which, according to the WHO, is the number one cause of death worldwide, leading to the death of 17.9 million people in 2016. The steady rise in the prevalence of these diseases has made people more aware of their health and fitness and the precautions they need to take to prevent the development of such conditions. As a result, the demand for personalized nutrition and wellness has spiked in recent years, with consumers preferring wellness solutions that are tailored to their lifestyles and needs.
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North America to Command the Market Backed by Growing Popularity of Personalized Nutrition
North America is slated to dominate the personalized retail nutrition and wellness market share in the coming years as consumers in the region are showing increasing willingness to invest in personalized nutrition. In addition, advancements in retail healthcare, which include research in DNA-based health profiles, biomarker blood testing, and micro-biome analysis are further boosting the regional market.
The market in Europe is anticipated to make strong headway in the near future as the increasing prevalence of lifestyle-related disorders is causing consumers in the region to switch to personalized nutrition solutions. In Asia Pacific, lucrative prospects are being created due to the rapidly growing demand for dietary supplements in India, China, and Vietnam.
Top Competitors to Broaden Horizons with Advanced Offerings
Key players in the personalized retail nutrition and wellness market are constantly developing advanced products and solutions to broaden their sales horizons and enhance their market presence. Apart from this, companies are also engaging in acquisition activities to further entrench their position in the market.
- February 2020: ChromaDex introduced Tru Niagen®, its signature cellular health product, as a supplement offering in Persona Nutrition, Nestlé Health Science’s personalized nutrition service. The launch of this product will bolster Nestle and ChromaDex’s position in the retail nutrition domain.
- January 2020: Atrium Innovations, a global leader in formulating science-based nutritional products, completed the acquisition of LivingMatrix, a data-driven personalized functional medicine platform based in San Francisco. The takeover is part of Atrium’s mission to rapidly expand in the personalized nutrition space.
List of Key Players Covered in the Personalized Retail Nutrition and Wellness Market Report:
- LifeSeasons, Inc.
- Nutrino Health Ltd.
- Pathway Genomics
- GNC Holdings, Inc.
- Danone S.A.
- Prenetics Ltd.
- Habit Food Personalized LLC
- The Vitamin Shoppe
- Mars, Inc.
- Nestle, S.A.
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Microsoft is preparing to roll out its Windows Live OneCare security
product, it is offering some people the $49.95-a-year service for free
On Tuesday, Microsoft sent e-mail invitations to a select number of
people who have been testing OneCare, asking them to join a "perpetual
beta." These people get to use the service at no cost and will have
early access to new features, said Brooke Richardson, a lead product
manager at Microsoft.
The testers will receive beta software, which could have glitches,
Richardson said. However, Microsoft doesn't plan to load code onto PCs
that will really break the system, she said. Testers will receive
updates to the software a few days before Microsoft plans to release it
to the general public, according to Microsoft's beta test Web site,
accessible only to testers.
Windows OneCare Live is scheduled to debut in June.
It marks Microsoft's entry into the consumer antivirus market, a space
previously dominated by specialists such as Symantec, McAfee and Trend
View: ZDnet Story


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Ice cream chef Giapo on the possibility of an AI robot taking his job: “It will happen, 100%”
If you found yourself out and about on upper Queen St on any given night prior to 2017, it was a common sight to see lines of punters spilling out the doors of Giapo’s ice cream parlour and snaking around the corner. This kind of illogical behaviour would take place even in the coldest of winter months.
Many have had a go at explaining the rationale, but it’s perhaps best left at this: Such is the gravitational pull of a unique experience (like ice cream flavours you can’t see before ordering) and a delicious treat.
But come this year, owners Giapo Grazioli and Annarosa Petrucci decided enough was enough. They uprooted themselves for the first time in nine years to move from Queen St to a new, much more spacious downtown location on Gore St in March.
The decision was a tactical one, as unlike the cramped Queen St store, the Gore St shop lets the creative operations expand over three levels: The bottom floor, front-of-house area is where customers order, while the second floor is the kitchen where ice creams are constructed.
Meanwhile, the third floor acts as the ‘innovation hub’ for R&D of new recipes and ideas and is home to its 3D printer. It’s in this new space that a 3D printed, colossal squid chocolate ice cream was created in collaboration with Te Papa Museum.
Grazioli with the colossal squid ice cream, and the new Giapo innovation/R&D kitchen
“Ice cream is coming out of its normal dress for the first time, it’s no longer a geodimetric ball on a cone, stuff is sticking out,” Grazioli explains of the eye-catching, tentacle-laden creation.
“It’s a landmark. We’ve always been eating with our eyes and our five senses, otherwise I’d just give you an orange instead of doing something else. It’s post-post modern.”
But despite being ahead of the curve as far as ice cream stores go (how many are creating chocolate squids out of 3D printers?) Grazioli isn’t resting on his laurels. Instead, he has a keen interest in which futuristic technology could be the next addition to his kitchen.
He says he wants to collaborate with a tech company or harness high-tech technology to go where no ice cream maker has gone before.
“We want to do something with holograms, and we’re interested in virtual reality, artificial intelligence applied in the kitchen, things like that,” he explains.
“With augmented reality, it could be eating an ice cream but being somewhere else, like a trip. Or, we can create a hologram of somebody.”
Grazioli’s team has already dabbled in this unchartered area of ice cream consumption in prior years. A sound dome they built matched different genres of music to different ice cream flavours to see how the sound altered the perception of flavour to the person eating it, but now he’s eager to try something new.
“We want to try the next thing – augmented reality hasn’t really been done yet. AI hasn’t really found an everyday application in the kitchen or with customer service. Can you imagine Siri answering you or taking your order?” he says.
But perhaps more interestingly, Grazioli holds very strong views on what jobs will be impacted by AI. He says it’s coming for every business, and even those whose job relies on creativity aren’t safe.
In other words, Grazioli, who Idealog dubbed the ‘imagination machine’ in a previous feature, reckons he himself could be replaced by an actual machine.
“The problem is not creativity, the problem is execution with context. Look at how IBM Watson has made a cheesecake,” he says. “50 years from now, every single business will be impacted by AI. 100 percent. Even ours. Can you imagine the computational power of a computer with mind? It’s much bigger and faster, and it will be much better than what I can do with my brain.
“We are machines. We are made of molecules, but what is not replaceable is the soul, the spirit. What the machine can’t replace is the purpose, but everything else from creativity to drive and grit, they’ll smash us. One of the new school subjects for our kids will be working with AI. They can make clones of us, does that tell you anything? Give it 50 years.”
The IBM Watson created cheesecake
Grazioli says he’s intrigued by where technology is taking us as a human race. His other predictions for the future of tech include that within 50 to 70 years, humans will no longer die as they will have figured out how to block aging, and that in the future, wars will be forged with no human contact.
“I think the challenge will not be who has the biggest nuclear bombs, but who will make the most incredible algorithm. The next wars won’t be fought people to people, they’ll be fought computer to computer, robot to robot.”
But he’s also optimistic – he thinks no matter what outcomes arise, good will prevail.
“I think AI will set us up for a better civilisation, because it will probably be a fairer one. AI will take the vast majority of all the jobs, but we will be good enough to find ourselves other jobs and work side-by-side with AI.”
Despite these eery predictions, he says he’d also welcome the idea of an AI robot working alongside staff in the Giapo kitchen any day from now.
“It will happen, but would you want to buy an ice cream from a robot and not from a human? That’s where the purpose comes in. There must be someone behind that AI – maybe it means the humanity I’m showing to create those things. Everything is possible, it’s just about writing the right algorithm to show the humanity, the intelligence, the passion – it’s the person behind that write the codes that drives the purpose.”
3D printed ice creams
Outside of the discussion of the still slightly surreal world of an AI workforce, he says in terms of technology, he would also like more sophisticated tools to see what’s inside the ingredients.
“At the moment we’re mono-dimensional because we only taste, we can’t see, we guess why things go well together, there must be a chemical balance or harmony between the two. I would love a diagnostic that can go check inside and check what this is made out of and what are the proteins inside – we will be eating better and tastier thanks to science.”
It may be somewhat surprising that an ice cream chef is so heavily invested in future technology, but he says being at the forefront of these trends plays into his vision for Giapo, which is transforming the way people experience ice cream.
“It’s certainly unconventional, it shocks people, puts people off, but it makes us do a better job, so they get a difference experience and we’re working better. It’s for us to step up once again and show the world what New Zealand ingenuity can do, as far as ice cream is concerned.”


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Newsom’s zero-emission car plans are mostly hot air
Recent news reports contained some eye-opening news, at least for those of us who are car aficionados: “In a stunning announcement, GM says it will stop making all diesel and gas-powered cars,” according to Motor Biscuit. The planned implementation date is 2035, which isn’t particularly far into the future.
I’m still grumpy about the disappearing manual transmission, and will give up my 332-horsepower 370Z when they peel the shifter from my cold, dead fingers. Whatever one’s views of electric vehicles, private industry is perfectly capable of transitioning away from internal-combustion engines without the heavy hand of California’s bumbling state government.
Flash back to September, when Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that, amid much fanfare, promised “bold action” on the “climate crisis.” It would require every new car sold in the state by 2035 to be emission free, which means a mandate for electric vehicles. “Cars shouldn’t give our kids asthma. Make wildfires worse. Melt glaciers. Or raise sea levels,” the governor tweeted.
The state should only implement such far-reaching regulations through proper legislative channels, not via gubernatorial fiat. Furthermore, Newsom’s virtue signaling ignores some crucial points—e.g., the state’s poor land-management practices have more to do with the then-raging wildfires than the sale of modern vehicles. Most significantly, Newsom’s grandiose order is largely meaningless.
Even though the 2035 phase-out date is the same, General Motors did not make its recent announcement because of Newsom’s edict. The governor and lawmakers who propose similar things in the United States and abroad understand the great advances that the private sector already is making. This is a typical progressive strategy: Pass a “bold” measure that conforms to what industry already is doing and then take credit for being visionary.
Journalists will often take the bait. A recent editorial from The Los Angeles Times used the GM decision as evidence that Newsom’s order wasn’t “fantastical.” Then it called for the state to “spend big now” on an electric-vehicle future—something the administration is gladly obliging.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently released a report on Newsom’s 2021-2022 budget as it relates to fees and funding streams to support zero-emission vehicle infrastructure. The governor plans to securitize revenue from Assembly Bill 8, which funds alternative energy and renewable fuel programs, to spend as much as $1 billion on zero-emission vehicle-fueling infrastructure.
In California’s $202-billion budget, a billion bucks may be a rounding error. But it’s still an unnecessary use of tax dollars given that, once again, private industry is busy investing heavily in an electric-vehicle network. If manufacturers want to sell these newfangled cars, they need to provide ways for drivers to charge them. Many people might buy an EV if carmakers could ease their “range anxiety”—the fear of getting stranded without a charge.
Tesla provides a better infrastructure model than the California state government, the latter of which is spending more than $79-billion building a “High Speed Rail” line through the Central Valley that no one (other than bureaucrats and contractors) seems to want.
“The reason why consumers still choose Teslas … is perhaps surprisingly simple. They can drive their Teslas for long distances in full confidence that they will find convenient locations at which to recharge their vehicle,” as the Harvard Business Review explained. Unlike old-line car manufacturers, Tesla invested heavily in a charging network. Others will surely follow.
One of the oddest elements of the governor’s EV plan is, as the LAO explains, its mandate that 50-percent of Clean Transportation Program funds go to low-income and disadvantaged communities. You might have noticed that electric vehicles are popular mainly in high-income areas—and not for any nefarious reason. The median price of a new vehicle in the United States is above $36,000, but it tops $55,000 for an electric vehicle.
Poor people can’t afford new cars and certainly aren’t buying new EVs. EV prices are dropping significantly (13 percent in one year) as competition heats up, but leave it to the government to spend our money to build infrastructure where it isn’t yet needed—rather than to meet the current demands of consumers. And don’t get me started on EV subsidies.
“The vast majority of money in the Baker administration’s electric vehicle subsidy programs is being paid out to households living in the state’s wealthiest ZIP codes,” according to a Massachusetts study by Streetsblog. “(T)he program has barely made a dent in the overall composition of the state’s vehicle fleet” with EVs representing “about one-half of one percent” of the Bay State’s passenger fleet.
It’s not even a slam dunk that EVs will combat climate change, given that they shift pollutants from the tailpipe to the power plant. “Your battery-powered vehicle is only as green as your electricity supplier,” as Scientific American explained. Maybe we should leave it up to carmakers rather than pretend that California lawmakers have the wherewithal to save the planet?


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10. Honda CR-Z Mugen RZ
Like the 2012 SEMA Show in America, the 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon was packed with Toyota and Subaru’s latest sports car. But that’s not to say that there weren’t plenty of other attractions on the Makuhari Messe Convention Center show floor.
Coming in 10th on our list of Top 10 Cars of the 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon is the Honda CR-Z Mugen RZ. Perhaps what the CR-Z should have been from the factory, minus the rear spoiler, the Mugen RZ is a supercharged hybrid powered by a 1.5-liter, four-cylinder with 153 hp. Five-away adjustable coilovers give the CR-Z the sporty handling it deserves, while the body styling gives the CR-Z a much more attractive design. Too bad Mugen is only planning on selling 300 of them.
McLaren Special Operations is launching a range of custom options for the MP4-12C and the 12C spider, which will be on display first in Middle Eastern markets such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
We know that McLaren is working on a successor to its F1 supercar, but now we’re getting word that McLaren is tooling away on another vehicle behind the scenes.
According to AutoExpress, the new McLaren will be a competitor to the Ferrari FF, meaning it will have shooting brake styling and more trunk space than the traditional supercar . Rumors of a lower price tag (than the Ferrari) are also reported, with the car likely slotting in as a close competitor to the high end Porsche 911.
Apparently the vehicle will borrow the platform and engine from the MP4-12C, which means a 592bhp 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8, that should hit 60 mph in around three seconds.
The new McLaren could arrive as early as 2014.
In total, 25 MP4-12C GT3 race cars in total will be campaigned throughout Europe and in the 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship. The McLaren MP4-12C race car was also selected to be the safety car for FIA GT1 World Championship race at Nogaro on April 8 and 9.
After an intensive development program in 2011, prototype models of the MP4-12C race car covered more than 35,000 miles on real world and simulated test tracks last year. All that effort went into building a reliable and hopefully rewarding race car for the 2012 season.
There will be 10 MP4-12C GT3s entering the Blancpain Endurance Series while Gemballa Racing and Doerr Motorsport will be competing in the German VLN series, which includes the infamous 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Gemballa Racing will also be competing in ADAC GT Masters with Molitor Racing, while Hexis Racing will take part in the FIA GT1 World Championships.
Apex Motorsport will enter an MP4-12C GT3 in select rounds of this year’s British GT Championship, and Lapidus Racing Team will participate in the International GT Open series and the 24-hour races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.
The MP4-12C GT3 race car shares the same V8 twin-turbo engine and carbon “MonoCell” chassis found in the road car counterpart.
Check out a video on the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 after the break.
McLaren is hard at work on its next supercar and Ron Dennis, the British automaker’s current boss has revealed several details of the spiritual successor to the F1.
First off, Dennis made it a point that McLaren has no plans of reclaiming the title of world’s fastest car. Trying to beat the F1′s top speed of 243-mph or the Bugatti Veyron’s new record of 267.81-mph, is not a goal for its new model. “Don’t get fixated by top speed. That’s the first thing you have to discard in today’s society,” Dennis said at the opening of a new dealership in Sydney, Australia.
What is a goal for McLaren’s next project is to be the world’s most technologically advanced supercar fit to take on the creations from Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini. Dennis hopes that the next supercar will have “many things on it that don’t exist at the moment.”
What he did confirm about the new supercar is that it will share the same carbon fiber central structure of the MP4-12C, that will also be used on a cheaper model to slide in under the existing MP4-12C. Quantities will be low volume, between 300 to 500, with pricing set to be more expensive than the 12C. It’s clear that Dennis has very high hopes for this new model, saying that it will be “a big quantum leap and very different to this car [MP4-12C].”
The British automaker looks to modify their existing 3.8L twin-turbo V8 for the new vehicle, seeking more performance with the possibility of adding a hybrid system in order to boost performance and fuel efficiency. Inside, it will sport a conventional two-seater layout as opposed to the F1′s three-seater setup.
One thing is for sure, the exterior design of this new model will be drastically different than the existing MP4-12C. We can’t wait to see what they have in the works.
[Source: Drive - Sydney Morning Herald]
It’s the first, but it most certainly won’t be the last. Known for its wild aero kits, Swiss-tuner Fab Design has unveiled an excessively-styled version of the new McLaren MP4-12C supercar.
Scheduled to make its official reveal tomorrow during the opening press day of the Geneva Motor Show, we’ve obtained a selection of shots prior to the big day.
We’ll be the first to admit the McLaren, while an amazing super sports car, is less than super in the looks department. Still, it’s hard not to think Fab Design has taken the styling a step too far.
Modified McLarens are set to become a theme of this year’s Geneva show with two other tuners set to reveal their renditions as well. And if you don’t like the Fab Design car, be warned, these two companies aren’t known for being tame: Mansory and Gemballa.
GALLERY: Fab Design McLaren MP4-12C
Known as the McLaren MP4-12C HS (for High Sport), it immediately grabbed our attention with its dramatic aero enhancements, rear wing, and wheels. McLaren also managed squeezed an additional 75-hp, bumping the performance of its 3.8-liter V8 engine. Unfortunately, McLaren only built 5 High Sport models and all have already been spoken for.
As small consolation, the official photographer of McLaren Special Operations just shared new images from a photo session with all five examples. Check it out!
GALLERY: MP4-12C HS


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THE Commonwealth Bank has become the third financial institution to relocate to the multi-million dollar Woolworths redevelopment since opening in central Wodonga in August last year.
The branch will occupy the three remaining tenancies facing High Street when it makes the move in April.
The Hume and ANZ banks were the first to make the move with other tenancies being filled up in recent times by Jannoel Florist and more recently the Border Barber Shop which was previously in Sesame Lane.
Along with the Commonwealth Bank the majority of tenants in the Woolworths building are coming from other parts of High Street.
The Commonwealth Bank opened its first branch in Wodonga in 1961.
“The new premises will provide customers with more ways to bank, especially with our 24-hour lobby offering ATMs with instant deposit capability, a feature welcomed by small business customers,” a company spokesperson said.
At present, there are 10 shops including the former Coles supermarket available for lease in High Street in the stretch between the water tower and South Street which will be upgraded in two sections over the next 18 months.
Coles relocated to the Mann Shopping Centre which opened in October and its owners are still chasing a tenant for a shopfront on the corner of High Street and Elgin Boulevard.
Business Wodonga chairman Graham Jenkin said the new developments were highly attractive.
“Businesses nowadays look at energy efficiency and new buildings do provide that to some degree,” he said.
“Landlords need to make sure their buildings are suitable for purpose and as efficient as possible for business to operate from.
“Maybe some of the landlords with the older buildings may attract smaller businesses stepping up to having a retail presence and review their rent structures accordingly.”
LJ Colquhoun Dixon director Andrew Dixon also confirmed F45 gymnasium had taken out a tenancy on the corner of Elgin Boulevard and Hume Street of the Woolworths complex.


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Comcast Technology Solutions, a unit of Comcast formed last fall, has introduced a multiplatform, direct-to-consumer platform for content providers, and has tapped two vendors – Accedo and You.i TV – as its first duo of user interface/experience partners.
Comcast Technology Solutions, which already counts Time’s new ad-supported, multiplatform People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN) among its clients, said its turnkey, D2C offering will help programmers and other content partners accelerate the building, launch and management of OTT services.
The Comcast unit said the expanded D2C platform supports a wide range of components, including video processing, management, multi-CDN distribution, and playout capabilities, as well as support for subscription management, promotion, storefront enablement and billing. It also offers a UX (user experience) layer that leans on pre-integrated multi-platform application templates from initial partners, Accedo and You.i TV.
Comcast Technology Solutions said it plans to add more tech and vendor partners to the D2C offering in the coming months.
The television industry's top news stories, analysis and blogs of the day.


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Dying Light 2 chief designer Timon Smektala said that he wants to develop the franchise in different directions. This idea includes creating other projects around the universe, and it‘s not just about possible spin-offs. For example, a comic strip based on the sequel was published earlier, and the authors will be happy if this tradition continues.
The same applies to possible films, and for some reason the interview was about movies for Netflix. It is interesting that at the same time, Smektala did not answer the question of whether such negotiations are held.
The sequel will be released on February 4, 2022 — we have already tried the project and shared our impressions of it. Played Dying Light 2 Stay Human — Avellon and Does Not smell More on Media Gambling: Xbox Series S beats Xbox Series X sales in several regions In the trailer “Man- Spider’ found a blunder — it can be linked to other Spiders Action RPG Vaporum: Lockdown will be released on PlayStation and Xbox on December 10.


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Up until Friday, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque was well regarded for his public health policy decisions in the face of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic, if not his actual execution. While the country has faced widespread logistical failures in its health system, and in many cases outright corruption, the broad, sometimes tough policy decisions regarding quarantines, curfews, and the shutdown of broad swaths of the economy have been respected if not exactly embraced both domestically and internationally. All that came crashing down when under pressure to reignite the economy, Ivan Duque held the first of his “Dias Sin IVA” or “Day without Value-Added Tax” that he announced as part of a package of measures to spur the Colombian economy.
“We could see that in some parts of the territory there were crowds and disorder also occurred, and, of course, we all regret that situation.” —President Ivan Duque
Colombian news media spent the week beforehand hyping up the day, and the government suspended the curfew measures that had up until then kept Colombian deaths from the COVID-2 Novel Coronavirus under 2,000. When the day arrived, last Friday, all hell broke loose. Even though many of Colombia’s principal retail chains like Falabella and HomeCenter were under investigation for unethical pricing practices, raising their prices to erase the savings that Colombians would otherwise realize by escaping the normal 19% VAT, mass-market consumers flocked to stores creating a “black-Friday” environment.
Twitter Meme: How to make a casket with the box from your new television!
PARA LOS QUE SALIERON EL DIA SIN IVA pic.twitter.com/40D0NX22Oc
— WILSON CASTAÑO (@WilsonC37686776) June 20, 2020
Several large retail stores had to be shut down because they became so crowded, they violated occupancy rules. Giant lines formed outside of many retail establishments, not to check out, but waiting to even enter the store. Retail outlets throughout the country had to shut down because they simply became full beyond capacity. The secretary of health in Cali, Colombia’s third largest city called for stores to be shut down because of crowding. On Caracol television, epidemiologist Dr. Jaime Ordóñez Molina called Friday a “mistake that should not be repeated.”
The governor of Meta department, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga said “A discount is good for nothing on purchases in the day without VAT if we leave infected with Coronavirus!! Luis Ernesto Gómez in Bogotá confirmed that the discount store Alkosto had to be closed because crowds were out of control in the face of health measures.
The New York Times published an article that started: “Hundreds of thousands of Colombians braved lengthy lines on Friday to take advantage of a one-day lifting of sales tax, even amid a coronavirus quarantine and nearly 10,000 new confirmed infections in just five days…”
Friday, Bogotá’s Mayor Claudia Lopez took to Twitter to ask the National Government “with the utmost respect to reconsider making another COVID Friday.”
Equivocarse es de humanos, aceptar y corregir es de sabios.
Le ruego al gobierno nacional no provocar otro viernes de Covid que malogre el cuidado.
Basta con determinar que el próximo #DiaSinIVA sea exclusivamente para compras por internet.
Primero la vida que la plata ?? pic.twitter.com/N2NomIVw4V
— Claudia López ? (@ClaudiaLopez) June 20, 2020
Colombia has yet to know what the public health consequences will be from this experiment in going from a strict public health curfew to a retail jamboree. While there are many calls from Colombia’s business sector, members of the informal economy that barely eke out a living, and micro-entrepreneurs in the tourism and entertainment sectors to reopen the economy, doing so in a reckless way unjustified by science not only puts lives at risk, but it jeopardizes the progress and recovery that Colombia dearly needs and the progress relative to other countries that has been made.
“Dia Sin Orden” (Day Without Order)
Many Finance Colombia readers can make valid arguments for reopening the economy, and that’s fine. Do so if the experts say it is prudent, but that could have been done without this “Dia Sin Orden.” Is Colombia’s VAT too high? Yes, Finance Colombia’s editorial position is that it is a brake on growth, however that is a separate issue. Lower the VAT in a fiscally prudent way, reopen stores in an epidemiologically rational way, but this past Friday was a dangerous fiasco that should not be repeated.
The president correctly indicated that “this pandemic and this virus will be present for a much longer period,” and attempting to put a positive spin on the day’s events Friday evening added that ““the truth is that we must learn from the lessons that today leaves us with: the positive ones, which are many, and also learn from those spaces where citizen behavior was not adequate, so that it is not repeated.”
Yes, true. Citizen behavior in some cases left room to grow, but it was Duque’s decision to hold this, the first of 3-total planned “Dias Sin IVA” lifting curfews specifically to fill the stores with shoppers and empty them of merchandise. He got what he wanted, what else could he expect? With many retail outlets having to close due to public health orders, not even they realized the full benefit of the VAT tax exemptions.
Let’s hope the human cost doesn’t far exceed the 19% savings on a brand new big screen TV.
Do you agree or disagree? Comment below.